Wants Hopes Dreams
by Tinks8995
Summary: This a fluffy continuation after Not Fade Away faded to black fic. BuffyAngel, FaithRWood.


Title: Wants, Hopes, Dreams

Author: Tinks

Disclaimer: Sadly I own nothing. Joss, Mutant Enemy, Fox and co own all.  
Summary: It's a continuation after "Not Fade Away" faded to black fic. Or perhaps known around our house as my cathartic attempt to wash away the distaste left by the characterization of Buffy in TGIQ.  
Rating: I guess PG-13 for 3 bad words and a little bit of violence.  
Pairing: B/A, F/R.W. A/N: To quote Buffy: (On taking her English make up exam) "They give you credit just for speaking it, right?" I know the fic's got mistakes and is probably a little wooden in places. It's my first attempt ever & took me all summer just to write 2700 words. So constructive feedback, flame or gush...it's all cool if ya wanna send it but not important. I just wanted to share. It's sorta fluffy, I just didn't have the heart to kill anyone.  
On with the show!  
  
**Hopes, Wants, Dreams  
**  
Angel glanced down the alleyway. The army of demons were advancing, but they were still about a block away. He was more worried about the dragon flying overhead. _'One blast of that and we are all ash, vampire or not'_ he thought.  
  
He tried to form a quick plan in his mind. Unfortunately, nothing but hack and slash came to mind. Gunn stood half propped against the building behind him. Angel could tell he didn't have much longer. That left Illyria, Spike and himself as his own army. Definitely not the kind of odds he was hoping for.  
  
Angel risked another quick glance at the dragon above and readied his weapon. He closed his eyes and took a few quick unnecessary breaths to help clear his mind. A small explosion followed by a loud whistling hiss echoed through the night. His eyes snapped open. Just rising above the rooftops, a small exhaust flame appeared, followed by a faint plume of smoke.  
  
Everyone watched raptly as the small speck of flame spiraled upward. The dragon sensing danger, opened its mouth, preparing to unleash a fiery burst. The projectile hit its mark and the dragon appeared to explode. Fortunately, the commotion had distracted the horde as well and were still down the block.  
  
Angel peered at the rooftop, hoping to catch a glimpse of who had assisted them. Some little part of him hoped Illyria had been wrong about Wes or perhaps Lorne had returned with reinforcements. He heard Spike and Illyria behind him saying something, but all went silent when a lone figure stepped out of the dim onto the rooftop ledge.  
  
"I heard someone was having a party." the figure said. "I presume my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail." A spent shoulder launch missile tube slipped from her fingers to the rooftop. "Good thing Wes had the sense to call about my RSVP."  
  
"Oh bloody hell, it's the slayer" Spike said enthusiastically. "Exactly what we needed. I might just get out of this alive yet."  
  
"The slayer?" Illyria seemed to examine and ponder Buffy. Naively she inquired. "This little girl will help us how?"  
  
Buffy slid down the fire escape ladder to the second floor, then jumped to the ground. "Faith, Willow?" The two women slipped from the shadows of the alley to join the group. Willow was chanting a spell and everything around them seem to freeze.  
  
"I found this spell in a book I got in Brazil. Time is still normal, but inside the bubble we are moving fifty times faster. It's a relativity thing." Willow explained, taking a dagger from the pile of weapons Faith was carrying. "We should have a few minutes until the bubble wears off. Let's get working on a plan"  
  
Angel stared at Buffy, his expression a mixture of amazement and fury. When she appeared on the rooftop, there was a brief moment of relief before he realized that he didn't want her anywhere near here. "This is my fight! I don't want or need your help." Angel fired off heatedly. " I could probably use a second front somewhere that's not here." This came out more scathing than he intended.  
  
Buffy smiled at him sweetly, "I suppose you are gonna tell me all-ll about how you are cookie dough right about now too." She was clearly mocking her own statements from the last time they were in this position together.  
  
Faith handed Buffy her scythe and cut them off, before the bickering turned into a full fledged argument. "Listen! Red said we only had a couple of minutes, so less arguing, more planning. We are already here, so make good use of us Big Guy." She surveyed the surroundings. "Geez, who'd ya piss off anyway A, Satan?" Faith gave Angel a wink with that last statement.  
  
Buffy turned around and gave the demon army her own once over. "Well I took out ol Smokey there, that was my big plan. Will any ideas?"  
  
Willow pondered the situation a moment. "I think I could slowly expand the time bubble. Maybe release a few of the demons into it. That way you would only have to fight a few at a time instead of the hundreds that are here. I'll have to have absolute concentration to be able to hold the spell though. No interruptions. And I won't be able to hold it indefinitely, so you'll have to work fast."  
  
Illyria broke in. "You are the witch. The Shell remembers you fondly. I will respect any demands you make of me."  
  
Willow blushed, "Thanks, um I think."  
  
Angel took that moment to take over the planning. "Ok, I guess that means we should team up. Faith, you and Gunn, watch over Willow. Make sure anything that gets past us doesn't get near her."  
  
Faith glanced at Gunn. "I'm not so sure about Gunn, man. He looks like he needs a doc in the worst way."  
  
"I'll be fine." Gunn spit out. "It's just a scratch." He gave Angel a thumbs up.  
  
Angel continued with his plan. "The rest of us will form up there." He pointed to a spot that was near the edge of the bubble. "Illyria, Spike you take the outside edges. Buffy and I will take the middle. Let's go people."  
  
Buffy gave Willow and Faith a quick hug and wished them luck. She turned around and stopped in front of Spike. She clasped his hands in hers and quietly said "I'm glad to see you are alive Spike." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and started to move away.  
  
Spike gave Angel a smug look and sauntered over to his place. Undaunted, Angel strode up to Buffy and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You shouldn't be here. This is still my town. My fight." He thumped his chest in emphasis. "The world…it still needs you, its slay-"  
  
Buffy spun around and cut him off. "Hush! I'm not the only one anymore, there are plenty to do the job now. Besides, don't you remember? Together you are strong..." With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Buffy stood on tiptoe, laid a hand on each of his cheeks and planted a quick kiss on his lips. She gave his cheeks a light pinch and continued, "Alone you are dead." She turned on her heel and walked over to the spot she felt would be halfway between Spike and Angel. He stared after her, dumbfounded.  
  
Angel quickly recovered from his shock at her statement. "Ready?" he asked. A chorus of readies came in answer. He glanced back at Willow and nodded. As her chanting got louder, he was surprised to see her hair and eyes fading to pure white. He turned his attention to Buffy and declared firmly "After this is over we need to talk." He spun around to face the demons nearest to him and prepared to attack.  
  
The four lead warriors fought tooth and nail, dispatching the enemy quickly as possible as Willow expanded the bubble a couple of feet every few minutes. Buffy twirled in what seemed like a beautiful and dangerous dance of death. She threw kicks and punches, her scythe flashing through the air as she decapitated and stabbed demon after demon. Spike and Angel seemed to be doing their fair share of damage as well, breaking necks of the monsters they couldn't kill outright with their blades. Illyria was the scariest sight, covered head to toe in demon blood and gore. There wasn't a live demon to be seen around her. Angel really didn't want to pay much attention to her methods and tried to focus on his own fight at hand. Few got past them, and the ones that did were taken out by Faith and Gunn with little trouble.  
  
They seemed to be making progress against their enemy. The number they faced had been reduced to almost half, but that still left plenty of fiends to fight. The warriors were starting to tire. Well all except Illyria, who looked like nothing short of an atom bomb would stop her.  
  
"B…" Faith yelled about the fighting din. "The witch is starting to give out." Willow was shaking with the effort of keeping the time bubble flowing.  
  
"On to Plan X," Buffy shouted in response, returning her attentions to the monster she was fighting.  
  
Willow finally fell exhausted to the ground. The bubble collapsed and time flow around them returned to normal. She crawled over to Gunn, who had long since collapsed against a wall. With what little magical strength she had left, she tried to help him the best she could.  
  
Angel risked a glance over his shoulder at Faith, who was pulling a walkie talkie out of her pocket. "Nighthawk, Early Bird," Faith shouted into the handset "Plan X is a go. I repeat it's a go."  
  
The demon horde surged toward the little group. Faith stepped up between Angel and Buffy to help hold the line. A troop transport, a jolly roger painted on its side, pulled into the intersection down the street. Its doors opened and a ramp lowered to the ground. Xander sporting an eye patch and a red bandana on his head, bounded down the ramp wielding what looked like a cavalry saber.  
  
Angel was confused as to what exactly Plan X entailed. "Faith, how exactly is Xander going to be helping us in that get up? Is he going to put on a one man 'Pirates of Penzance'…" Angel trailed off as he heard someone yell 'CHARGE!' and a mass of girls came pouring out of the transport. Slayers, all bearing weapons and spoiling for a fight. The demon army was trapped between them.  
  
The battle raged on between good and evil. But, with the arrival of the slayers, clearly the momentum had swung their way. When the last demon was finally slain, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Slayers congregated around the transport. Illyria melted into the shadows and disappeared. Spike fumbled around for his pack of smokes.  
  
Buffy turned to Angel, "Plan X, Xander's idea. He pictures himself a student of the Sun Tzu. He says that now we are an army, we should have better strategy." She smiled at the thought of her friend coming into his own, in spite of his handicap. "He's the one that acquired the equipment for us. Not sure what's up with the costume though," she rolled her eyes. "They must have had some extra time on their hands."  
  
Faith came up to them with Robin in tow. "We didn't want to tell you, in case things were really going badly. If it looked like we were going to lose, they were supposed to take off. Not that they would." She nudged Robin as he brought his arm around her shoulders.  
  
Xander hurried to meet the rest of the group. He gave Buffy's arm a little squeeze. "So what do you think about Key Plan Guy now?" he said with a typical Xander grin. "I think he's great. And is now stuck with planning all future operations as well as getting donuts." She replied, brushing his cheek with a kiss. He pushed past them and knelt down to gather the exhausted Willow up into his arms.  
  
"I think Gunn is going to be ok. I managed to stop the bleeding. You'd better get him to the hospital though." Willow sagged against Xander's chest. "He probably does need some blood and well ya know to prevent infection…he should get some penicillin or zyvox or even maybe erythromycin or some..." Xander shushed her and carried her back to the transport.  
  
"We should go get the girls loaded up." Faith gave Angel a light punch in the arm, "Don't be a stranger." She pointed her index fingers at Buffy, "See ya in the car, B." before turning away and linking her arm with Robin's as they strolled back to the vehicle.  
  
Buffy was studying her shoes, suddenly very shy about being left alone with Angel. "Thank you." He started. "It means a lot to me that you were here. I thought from Giles' remarks and actions earlier this year, that you all didn't care too much for my new career choice." He gestured to the Wolfram and Hart building behind them.  
  
"Giles doesn't know we are here." She said softly, almost inaudibly "We…" her face contorted into grief at the thought of the estrangement between herself and her father figure. "We haven't been close for awhile."  
  
Angel gathered her into a hug and planted a kiss on top of her head. Unable to hold back the tears, she pressed her face into his chest. Angel rubbed her back and made soothing sounds, letting her get out what she needed to. Buffy sniffled a little and regained her composure. "Sorry about your shirt, I really didn't mean to break down like that, it's just been a really long year with Dawn and the moving and the replacing every single thing I own. The whole deal with Xander and Willow and Faith and the Slayers and trying to rebuild friendships and forge new relationships. I needed to let go for a little bit. Did I already apologize for ruining your shirt?" She rambled on. Her face took on a serious look, "Actually, Faith and Robin brought us all together. She's your biggest fan and Robin, well, he jumped on board after he found out all you had done for Faith and as you can see she's kinda sweet on him too. They are the ones you should really thank."  
  
Angel smiled down at her again and used his thumb to wipe away some stray tears. Reluctant to let go of his girl, he gave her shoulders another squeeze. Angel leaned down and whispered into her ear. "We need to talk."  
  
Buffy straightened up and put a finger to his lips. "I know." She pulled out of his embrace, "We will. Soon."  
  
A voice came screaming out into the night, "B! Shake a leg. We gotta motor. You can make fuck me eyes at each other on your own time."  
  
Buffy flushed a bright red. "I gotta…"  
  
"Go." Angel finished for her. She stepped forward and drew his head down to hers and pressed a solid kiss to his lips. "Soon." She whispered into his mouth.  
  
Buffy started to jog back to the Slayers' vehicle. She stopped and turned around. "Oh! I almost forgot this." She pulled a thick chain from inside her shirt and over her head. "Awhile back I did a favor for Whistler, who by the way, still dresses like a dime store pimp….He wanted me to get some ugly looking brooch thingie from this big evilly guy that was hangin' in Rome. The Immortal, was his name, said he knew you back in the day…What is it with you guys and names? What's wrong with just going by say Joe Smith? Not tough enough? Because can I just say 'The Immortal'? Makes him sound like one of those mask wearing professional wrestlers…" She took a deep breath as realized she was way off topic, "Anyway, in the same box as the brooch, I found this." She held up the necklace. "It seemed important so I took it. When I showed it to Whistler, he told me to give it to you. That you would know what to do with it." Buffy blew him a kiss and tossed the trinket to Angel.  
  
"Bye Spike." She yelled as she ran back to the transport. "See ya Slayer" came his reply.  
  
Angel could hear voices yelling from vehicle again as it started to roll away. "WESTIN CENTURY PLAZA HOTEL!"  
  
"FAITH!!"  
  
"ROOM 1712!"  
  
Angel followed the vehicle's taillights until they were out of sight.  
  
"So what do we have here?" Tossing his cigarette aside, Spike leaned in for a closer look at the pendant in Angel's hand. "I hope it's an amulet that fries your ass this time, ya wanker." Spike helped Gunn to his feet. "See how you like it."  
  
"It's not jewelry." Angel stared in wonderment at the pendant. "Wants, Hopes, Dreams. All that I thought stripped from me." He whispered. He held up the piece so that everyone could get a better look at it. Dangling from the end of the chain was an ornate vial containing a glowing green fluid.  
  
"It's everything."  
  
The End


End file.
